Parachutes appear to work fine during Orion capsule test

12:30 PM,
Jul. 24, 2013

The first space-bound Orion spacecraft arrived recently at Kennedy Space Center and will be assembled for flight here. It is scheduled to launch in 2014. Tim Shortt/FLORIDA TODAY Monday morning event for the arrival of the NASA and Lockeheed Martin Orion spacecraft capsule at Kennedy Space Center, where close to 450 people attended. This work in progress will be finished by technicians here at KSC for this space-bound launch scheduled for 2014.

Todd Halvorson
FLORIDA TODAY

The full-scale Orion test vehicle was dropped from a military cargo plane 35,000 feet above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground. Live video broadcast on NASA TV showed the conical capsule descending under three huge red-and-white striped parachutes. The main parachute failed, but the two remaining lowered the craft to what appeared to be a relatively soft landing. "We have touchdown," NASA test commentator Brandi ...